Gerald Clayton - "Two-Shade"

Gerald was born on May 11, 1984 in Utrecht, The Netherlands and moved to the United States at a young age. He graduated from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) in the summer of 2002 and received a Bachelor's of Music from the Jazz Studies program at USC in the Fall of 2006.

Gerald grew up in a musical family (his father is bassist/composer John Clayton and his uncle saxophonist Jeff Clayton) and was exposed to a variety of musical styles from a very young age. He studied classical piano with Mrs. Linda Buck and jazz piano and composition with Shelley Berg, Kenny Barron and Billy Childs.

Gerald was the winner of the 2001 Music Center Spotlight Awards and received the 'Outstanding Soloist' Award during the Monterey High School Jazz Competition in 2001 and 2002. He was also selected for the Grammy High School Big Band, comprised of high school students from the entire United States. Gerald was presented with the "level 1" award by the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts (NFAA) in January of 2002. In the summer of 2002, he was named Presidential Scholar in the Arts and was asked to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. In June of 2002, Gerald performed at Steinway Hall in New York and was presented with a scholarship award by the Music for Youth Foundation. In September of 2002, Gerald received the Shelley Manne Award for emerging young artists from the Los Angeles Jazz Society. In September of 2006, Gerald received Second Place in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Piano Competition.

Gerald Clayton - "Two-Shade"

01. Boogablues
02. Trapped In Dream
03. Two Heads, One Pillow
04. Peace For The Moment
05. All Of You
06. Interlude - Love All Around
07. Casiotone Pothole
08. One Two You
09. Sunny Day Go
10. Scrimmage
11. Interlude - You’re Out
12. Con Alma

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Rudder - Matorning

RUDDER is the most progressive and fresh voice to hit the music scene since Medeski, Martin and Wood and The Bad Plus.

Rudder’s radical live music experience is the most exciting to hit the scene in a decade; while groups such as Medeski, Martin and Wood are considered their colleagues, the moment the listener catches their infectious energy, it’s clear that Rudder is the new standard streaking through the industry. Defunking the scene of its tired and sloshy vibe, they feed the intense craving for organic and phenomenal groove experience.

Rudder - Matorning

01. 3H Club
02. Tokyo Chicken
03. Lucy
04. One Note Mosh
05. Jackass Surcharge
06. Innit
07. Lucky Beard
08. Daitu
09. Neppe
10. CDL

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Mark Wyand - Hidden Hill

Mark Wyand has become established as one of the most remarkable tenor sax players on the contemporary German jazz scene. The 34-year-old musician and composer plays with an exceptionally sensitive style that often borders on the meditative. Wyand was born in England but grew up in Germany, and moved to Berlin a few years ago. His highly acclaimed SonyBMG début "Eye To Eye" (2007) marked a revival of the jazz ballad, and with his new album Mark Wyand has gone one step further: Where his live appearances as bandleader are often extrovert and freethinking, his new studio recordings, produced jointly with Till Brönner, have an introverted and contemplative flavour. The title of the album is intended metaphorically, and it was in a mood of contemplation that he set about creating this new work. In addition to seven of Wyand's own compositions, "Hidden Hill" contains four cover versions: the two jazz standards "Once Upon A Summertime" by Michel Legrand and "Dearly Beloved" from the pen of Johnny Mercer and Jerome Kern, plus two contemporary songs – "Jóga" by Iceland's avantgarde pop singer Björk, and "Paper Bag" by the British group Goldfrapp.

Strictly speaking, "Hidden Hill" is actually a classic quartet recording: Wyand invited three excellent musicians to join him in the studio. He had been impressed by the lyrical playing of Swedish pianist Daniel Karlsson for some time, while Dieter Ilg was regarded as one of the best German bass players even before his cooperation with Charlie Mariano.

Mark Wyand - Hidden Hill

01. Kriyaban
02. The second sight
03. Prelude
04. Jóga
05. Dearly beloved
06. First morning without rain
07. High moon
08. Paper bag
09. Hidden hill
10. Once upon a summertime
11. Flowers from Lila

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Till Brönner - RIO

Till Brönner, trumpeter, singer, and one-of-a-kind European jazz personality, celebrates the joys and pains of life through the soulful music of Brazil in his most personal project yet, recorded on location in Rio de Janeiro with international guest stars Annie Lennox, Aimee Mann, Kurt, Elling, Milton Nascimento, Sérgio Mendes, and many others.

Brönner has sold more records than any other jazz artist in his country’s history and has conquered audiences in many European territories as well as major Asian markets. The reasons are obvious: his honeyed tone and cool, lyrical playing are as seductive to the ear as Brönner is to the eye. His versatile but always recognizable style is rooted in jazz, but he has also roamed effortlessly into pop, soul, and recently even Christmas music.

This year, as the worldwide music phenomenon of bossa nova celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, Brönner decided to dip into the pulsating sensuality of Brazilian music on his eleventh solo CD, ‘Rio’. The album revisits classic songs and rediscovers neglected gems by some of Brazil’s master songwriters, including Antônio Carlos Jobim, Chico Buarque, and João Donato.

Brönner’s status as a distinguished musical voice of his generation is attested by a stellar array of international guest stars - pop vocalist Annie Lennox, singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, Brazilian music legends Sérgio Mendes and Milton Nascimento as well as up and coming pop/jazz songbird Melody Gardot, jazz crooner Kurt Elling, and young Brazilian singer/composer Vanessa da Mata who in 2007 topped the charts in Brazil and Portugal with the song “Boa sorte/Good Luck” she had penned and recorded with Ben Harper. The musical fundament of the album is supplied by a top-rank Brazilian quintet that includes guitarist Marco Pereira and percussionist Marcos Suzano.

Till Brönner - RIO

01. Mistérios (Mysteries)
02. O que será (À flor da pele)
03. Só danco samba
04. Once I Loved (Amore em paz)
05. Evening (Tarde)
06. Ela é carioca
07. High Night (Alta noite)
08. Café com pão
09. Lígia
10. Sim ou não
11. A rã
12. Aquelas coisas todas

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Till Brönner - The Christmas Album

Till Brönner is a master of his craft. Whatever subject he gets into always results in the highest quality and very often a small masterpiece for eternity. So it was only a matter of time before he devoted himself to one of the oldest and most popular musical themes - Christmas.

This eleventh long-player of the 36 year old multi-talent combines in an impressive and touching way the intimate with the universally applicable, the noble gesture with a love of detail. "It was important to me to celebrate my own vision of Christmas with 'The Christmas Album'," admits the trumpeter, singer and producer, who has won the German Echo award, the German Record Critics' Prize as well as numerous other awards.

Just how versatile Till Brönner is with his own Christmas music can be experienced in the different aspects of the thirteen tracks on this album, which range from majestic symphonic arrangements such as "Silent Night" or "Joy To The World" through the infectious big-band swing of a "Winter Wonderland" to the melancholy pre-Christmas ballad "Christmas Is Never" written specially for this production to the relaxed and what must be the coolest, version of the Wham! classic "Last Christmas".

Till Brönner won't be celebrating this musical Christmas feast alone, of course. His hand-picked guests are some of the best there are - the vocalists Curtis Stigers, Kim Sanders, Stevie Woods, Yvonne Catterfeld, Frank McComb and the legendary New York Voices, not forgetting instrumentalists like Sting guitarist Dominic Miller, the American trumpeter Chris Botti, the pianists Don Grusin, Frank Chastenier and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin all ensure an enormous musical spread. And yet "The Christmas Album" comes across as though it were a magnificent whole. This may be because Brönner himself describes himself as a fan of Christmas records and has filled a considerable part of his CD rack with CD's about this annually recurring subject.

Till Brönner knows that Christmas only comes once a year and for most musicians, a Christmas album comes only once in a lifetime. With "The Christmas Album", he adds a very personal, passionate version to the canon of Christmas songs, which has what it takes to become an all-time classic.

Till Brönner - The Christmas Album

01. We Wish You A Merry Christmas/Joy To The World (feat. Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin)
02. White Christmas (vocal: Till Brönner)
03. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (vocals: New York Voices)
04. Last Christmas
05. Silent Night (feat. Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin)
06. What Are You Doing New Years Eve (vocal: Frank McComb)
07. Better Than Christmas (vocal: Yvonne Catterfeld)
08. Notes On Snow (trumpets: Till Brönner & Chris Botti / guitar: Dominic Miller)
09. Winter Wonderland (vocal: Stevie Woods)
10. Moon River
11. Nature Boy (vocal: Kim Sanders / piano: Don Grusin)
12. Christmas Is Never (vocal: Curtis Stigers)
13. Auld Lang Syne (feat. Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin)

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Reunion

Jim Beard (piano and keyboards). Till Bronner (trumpet and vocals). Dennis Chambers (drums). Tim Lefebvre (bass). Chuck Loeb (guitar). Eric Marienthal (saxophone).

Over the years, touring musicians cross paths, share experiences (both on stage and off), and form deep bonds, both musical and personal. Often these relationships are enduring, and the friendships that develop last a lifetime. The members of REUNION have a collective relationship built on many such experiences.

As members of world famous bands, Jim Beard, Till Bronner, Dennis Chambers, Tim Lefebvre, Chuck Loeb, and Eric Marienthal, have worked together on timeless recordings and in performances on all the major stages across the international world of Jazz.
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Mark Wyand - Eye to Eye

Born in Bishop Auckland in England, tenor saxophonist Mark Wyand is a permanent fixture in Germany’s jazz scene.

Wyand’s jazz talent, you see, spans all keys. With stylistic confidence, he is able to transcend from bebop to cool acid jazz. Or he devotes himself and his impressive playing to the many facets of the elegiacal jazz ballad.

Just he does now on "Eye To Eye", the 33-year old’s debut album with SonyBMG produced by trumpeter Till Brönner. Wyand has recorded 12 of his own compositions and a cover version of Elvis Presley´s "Love Me Tender" in a classic quartet arrangement.

He his accompanied by Frank Woeste (piano), Pepe Berns (bass) and Sebastian Merk (drums). Till Brönner is also on the trumpet in the eloquent and elegant "Cape Town", a homage to South Africa’s cape town where Wyand has often frequented to give concerts with local celebrities such as Winston Mankuku and Basil Moses, as well as 3 other tracks.
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For further information go to:
www.markwyand.com
www.myspace.com/markwyand

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Thomas Quasthoff "Watch what happens" - The Jazz Album

It is not often in the world of art that something completely new comes along, something that has never previously existed in this form. In music, especially, all limits seem to have been exhausted long ago. More than other genres, this particular art form has shown an increasing tendency to degenerate to the level of an accessory. From classical music to techno, rapid consumability, collectibility and exchangeability have now become indications of quality. Records function like shares, rising and falling in the charts. Not many musicians have the stature to break out of this vicious circle and, by presenting new artistic ideas and forms, to create a counterpoint of lasting value.

A CD like Thomas Quasthoff’s jazz album does not come about overnight. Nor is it the result of a month’s or even six months’ work. Rather, it represents the culmination of a process that stretches back over a period of several years and starts with the artist defining his or her own personal position. Quasthoff has always felt a close affinity with jazz, and yet he first had to answer his own question as to what he could express through jazz that had not previously been conveyed in this form. Why else would he want to record a jazz album?
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For further information go to:
www.thomas-quasthoff.com

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Mark Murphy - Love Is What Stays

The passage of time is on Mark Murphy's mind a lot these days, as this album suggests. "At my age," he says, "you become boggled by how time affects your future, your past, and the present. It's tickin' away, and you can't do nothin' about it."

But time has been good to his voice: a rich, virile, attractively craggy bass-baritone, etched with the wisdom of a fifty-year journey. It's a sound that could have crept from the shadows of some smoky dive in a Robert Mitchum film noir. “Just listen to Mark Murphy, and the odds are in favor of your being provoked to extremes," declared the liner notes of his first LP, made for Decca in 1956. Murphy, the writer added, "is one of the great singers of our times."
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Biography (35 KB, PDF)
Discography (96 KB, PDF)
Press-text (38 KB, PDF)

For further information go to:
www.markmurphy.com

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Till Brönner - OCEANA

„One of the internationally most successful German pop stars is a jazz musician.“ (Musikexpress, 12/05)

"Keeping it simple" is easier said than done. Simplicity goes a long way. It is reached by focusing on the essentials and therefore a goal most desired. Till Brönner has reached an impressive degree of maturity that now allows him for that much-coveted clarity of his new album OCEANA.
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Biography (99 KB, PDF)
Discography (97 KB, PDF)
Press-text (157 KB, PDF)

For further information go to:
www.tillbroenner.com

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Till Brönner - A Night in Berlin

The music press has been praising his musical proficiency, his fans love his melodious, harmonic and romantic style: Till Brönner is Germany’s new hot jazz star. Despite his 34 years, the trumpeter has already played with stars such as Hildegard Knef, Pat Metheny, Bootsy Collins, Mousse T., Ray Brown, the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Hoffmann, Natalie Cole or No Angels, releasing 10 albums since 1994. His current recording, That Summer, came out in June last year, entering the top 15 of the German charts immediately. Brönner was also nominated in the category “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album” at this year’s Grammy Awards (for his collaboration on the album „Get Well Soon“ by Bob Brookmeyers New Art Orchestra). His first DVD, A Night in Berlin, is scheduled for release on September 30, 2005, recorded with other musician friends at the Berlin Teldex Studios over five days in April, with Grimme Award winner Volker Weicker in the director’s chair. The DVD will be released in a high-end format, in high definition quality and Dolby digital sound.
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Biography (99 KB, PDF)
Discography (97 KB, PDF)
Press-text (157 KB, PDF)

For further information go to:
www.tillbroenner.com